Welcome to a very special episode of The Necessary Conversation. We've been talking for a long time on this program about possibly having a therapist to come here and talk to our family. Today, we have a very special guest with us. This is Karen. Hello, Karen. You may know Karen from Happy Mom and Grandma on TikTok and Instagram where she is doing fantastic

work. I'm a huge fan by going into the Trump email chains for fundraisers and his packs

and stuff and reading what Trump supporters are actually being sent in their emails to try and get

money. Now, I have to say

up top, we're not going to talk about any political issues that have happened this week. Obviously,

everything going on with Renee Good in Minnesota. We're going to be covering that on Sunday.

Horrific news, but today is all about talking to Karen. And I have some disclaimers to say about this. This episode is for

educational and entertainment purposes only does not constitute mental health treatment.

Karen is a licensed marriage and family therapist here today in an educational and

conversational role, not as anybody's therapist. She won't be providing therapy,

diagnoses, or individualized mental health advice as she is not licensed in the states that we all live in.

And Karen's going to be speaking generally about family dynamics, communication, and what research and clinical experience show about political conflict in families.

With that said, Karen, the floor is yours.

Well, I just want to start by saying thank you guys

so much for letting me come on. This is, I'm hoping this can be helpful for all of us. I am dealing

with so many families about political conflict and roles and boundaries and values. And my joke during COVID was, hey, I never

took the class on how to help people during a global pandemic. I make the same joke now that I

didn't take the class in college about how helping people navigate political differences,

value differences, and everything that's happening. I don't often get a chance to talk with both sides.

And so I'm really appreciative that I get a chance to hear from both sides.

And I guess my question to you guys to start off is, what are you hoping to get out of this?

What are the challenges that you're facing relationally right now?

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